Positive identification of human beings has been used for many purposes including law enforcement and others. One of the most conventional ways of positive identification is via a fingerprint. Other techniques may include photography as well as other biometric techniques.
Around 1870, the French anthropologist Alfonse Bertillon devised a system to measure and record dimensions of certain bony parts of the body. These measurements were reduced to a value, effectively a multidimensional vector, which theoretically applies to only one person, and does not change during that person's adult life. The so-called Bertillon system was used for many years, until it was discredited in 1903. According to legend, a prisoner named Will West was sentenced to the US penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kans. That prisoner had Bertillon measurements which were exactly the same as another prisoner who was there at the same time. Coincidentally, they had the same name, but were different people. Their Bertillon measurements were close enough to identify them as the same person, however they had different fingerprints. It was alleged later that they were identical twin brothers. Around this time, law enforcement began using fingerprints for criminals and their identification.
In 1905, the U.S. Army began using fingerprints, and two years later, the U.S. Navy started doing the same. Around 1907, the Marine Corps joined in doing that. Many of the agencies began sending copies of their fingerprint cards to the national Bureau of criminal identification.
The science of fingerprinting continued to advance. In 1918, Edmond Locard wrote that if 12 points, called Galton's details, were the same between two fingerprints, that would suffice for positive identification. This is the origination of the so-called 12 points of comparison between fingerprints. While this is a guideline, there is no required number of points necessary for identification. Some countries set minimum standards of points of comparison. The United States has no set standard.
Since 1924, the FBI identification division has stored fingerprint files. By 1971, there were 200 million cards on file. The fingerprints are often scanned in terms of minutia as explained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,766,040; 6,763,127; 6,270,011; 6,078,265; 6,072,895; and 5,878,158.
Modern “AFIS” technology has split these files into a computerized part and a manually maintained part. Many of the manual files are duplicates, but there is no one accepted filing system. The FBI's new integrated AFIS site plans to stop using paper fingerprint cards completely. Many of the fingerprint cards are stored in a warehouse facility. Even more fingerprint data has been acquired from the US “visit” program, under which foreign nationals which wish to visit the United States must first go to their local US Embassy and apply for a visa. If the VISA is approved, the traveler is fingerprinted and then photographed. The fingerprint and photograph is compared against the traveler who arrives, to ensure identity. Difficulties with the fingerprint reader have often caused abandonment of the fingerprinting, in favor of simple manual comparison.
Other forms of positive identification such as DNA matching, blood typing and saliva matching have been used. Facial imaging, iris scanning, and palm geometry readers have been used in military applications and for government security.
The present inventors have filed other patent applications relating to unique individual identification.